Things are rolling along swiftly towards Jan. 20, 2025, as President-elect Donald Trump handed out even more nominations to fill his cabinet and other administration positions mid-week, which are just the tip of the iceberg of the actions he’s taken to signal he’s the de facto leader of the free world already, as my colleague Teri Christof wrote about in a brand-new piece earlier Wednesday. Now, there’s one more sign that that’s so.
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On Tuesday during the week of Thanksgiving, President Biden quietly sent a request to the House for additional funds for Ukraine’s war with Russia to be tacked on to the CR. Less than a week later, on Monday, the Democrats announced that American taxpayers just sent President Volodymyr Zalensky $725 million:
The administration announced on Monday a military package worth $725 million, to include air defense capabilities, munitions for rocket systems and artillery and anti-tank weapons.
How much does Biden and Co. want now? Twenty-four billion dollars.
Here’s how that new, $24 billion breaks down. Notice the first sentence: (emphasis mine)
The White House request to Congress would have provided additional aid for Ukraine through 2026 , amid expectations that Trump will pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin for an end to the nearly three-year war.
Biden’s request to Congress reportedly called for $8 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which helps provide military equipment to Ukraine, fund training of its armed forces and advisory efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s defensive position against Russian aggression.
The request also included $16 billion for the Department of Defense to replenish stocks sent to Ukraine, and funds for repair of military equipment in DOD stocks. The funds are also used to reimburse the DOD for military education and training provided to the Ukrainian government or other foreign countries supporting Ukraine.
The Biden administration has about $6 billion in funds left for Ukraine, but is facing challenges in giving the full amount because of dwindling American military stockpiles.
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In other words, it would have clipped the incoming Trump administration’s Achilles’ heel right from the beginning. Now, House Speaker Mike Johnson has weighed in on the prospects of more cash spilling out of our national wallet before Trump 2.0.
Happily, Speaker Johnson was crystal clear during a Capitol Hill presser on Wednesday morning that Biden’s humongous spending spree for Ukraine stops right here and right now–since we have a new president the American people elected just about a month ago.
The Hill report (linked above) continued:
“I’m not planning to do that,” Johnson said in response to a question if he would add aid for Ukraine to a continuing resolution to fund the government.
He added:
“As we predicted and as I said to all of you, weeks before the election, if Donald Trump is elected it will change the dynamic of the Russian war on Ukraine, and we’re seeing that happen
“So, it is not the place of Joe Biden to make that decision now, we have a newly elected president and we’re going to wait and take the new commander in chief’s direction on all that so I don’t expect any Ukraine funding to come up now.”
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We’ll keep you posted.